Unlocked
by l0litapop
Summary: When Vanessa Leoni returns to Mystic Falls after century and a half, she finds that her neighbors, the Salvatores, as well as some other figures from her past are still alive. As she re-establishes her life there, will her feelings for Damon return, despite his relationship with Elena? And what new danger awaits her in her hometown? Damon / OC, minor Stelena
1. One

**AN: Hey, everyone! Here's the first chapter of my new story, which is basically being co-written by my cousin. I hope you like it, and please review!**

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**Part 1.**

It was almost three PM, and Vanessa Leoni was still sitting in the living room, surrounded in boxes. She'd forgotten how trying it was to move, and it only got more difficult as the years went by and she acquired more things. Now, she found herself distracted by a nearly ancient photo album from the 1860s, before she'd turned. It was a beautiful collection of photographs, outlining her adolescence and coming-of-age, surrounded by her family, friends, pets, and neighbors. Things were so simple when she was human. Idly, she wished some of these people were still alive. Her mother had been her confidante and closest friend. Sometimes, it was still difficult to believe that those times were dead and buried, just like the people in the photographs. In her mind, she could still hear that German Shepherd barking every time someone walked past the manor.

Her fingers lingered on a photograph of the Salvatore brothers, who had lived next door at the time. When she'd last seen Stefan and Damon, both of them were torn between Katherine Pierce, the beautiful, European brunette. She sighed, remembering how she could never stack up to her friend's striking confidence. Since then, Vanessa had become surer of herself, but at the time she never could compare to Katherine. Here, Damon's smirk was immortalized in this one old photograph she had of him. Even if he'd never cared for her the way she'd cared for him, she would never forget what he meant to her.

Reluctantly, she pulled the rest of the albums out of their box and stacked them neatly on the familiar bookcase next to the fireplace. Vanessa was born in Mystic Falls, and this was her original home – it felt right to keep it as close to how it was back then as possible. Granted, she would welcome a few updates. For example, the 57" flatscreen TV and new security system. Living in the modern world for so long had her convinced these were necessities.

The reason for the move was a simple one. There was just nothing new to see at the moment. She'd been everywhere she'd wanted to go as a human: southern France, Costa Rica, Brazil, Australia, and counteless other destinations. She'd seen a great deal, and it was time to begin another period of settling down. Her companions from her travels, also vampires, had gone their separate ways as well. Now, it only seemed fitting to get as close to "home" as she could.

After several hours of work, when most of the things were put away and the house was looking homier, she dismissed the moving men and watched their now-empty truck drive away. As soon as they were gone, she made her way to the new fridge in the kitchen and downed the contents of two blood bags. Having humans in the house had left the scent of prey lingering on every surface, and it had been putting her on edge. Satisfied, she went outside and got into her blue BMW Z4. With the top down, she pulled into the street and onto the eventual highway as the sun set. There was someone she needed to visit.

It wasn't long before she realized something was amiss. Despite driving for a while, the smell of blood was pervasive. It seemed reasonable to assume the source was in front of her. Vanessa hadn't heard of any other vampires still in Mystic Falls, but her mind began to wander – who else would spill so much blood? As far as she could tell, vampires were more common than human murderers. And out here, on the open road? No human was stupid enough to kill someone in such a conspicuous location. If there had been a car crash, she would have heard it.

Sure enough, not more than five minutes later, there was a body curled up in the middle of the road. Vanessa frowned as she pulled over and got out of the car.

"Hey! Are you alright?" she called, knowing the answer. She couldn't hear even a hint of a pulse. The victim was a middle-aged woman with brown hair, and her throat had been viciously torn into and had bled profusely. Leaning over the body, her suspicions were confirmed; the bite was more or less centered over the woman's jugular vein, and the rest of the body was undisturbed. So there was at least one other vampire in Mystic Falls today.

As if on cue, the tell-tale crack of a footstep on a branch gave away the killer's location. Vanessa whipped around, eyes narrowed. With her vampiric sight, she could make out the vague outline of a figure among the thick trees. "Who's there?" she asked, looking right at it. If it was a vampire, he or she would know right away that she was one too by her ability to locate the killer in the darkness.

The even breathing she heard from the trees became unsteady for a moment. Slowly, the figure emerged from the shadows, disbelief spread across his face.

Vanessa's stomach flipped. It took a moment for her to gather herself – was this real? Before her was a ghost from her past. It had been over a hundred years since she'd seen him, and in all that time apparently nothing had changed. Instantly, her heart began to race. "Damon…?" she asked incredulously, unable to shake the surprise from her voice. It felt instinctive to run up and hug her childhood friend, but something felt different about him. He returned her expression with the same degree of shock.

"Vanessa," he said simply, staring at her. She'd changed. Something about her seemed older and wiser, though he was looking at the same seventeen-year-old girl who'd lived next door to the Boarding House back before anyone had become a vampire. Maybe there was something sharper about her light hazel eyes, or she'd gained a tan from years of being in the sun.

"_Non posso credere che tu sia vivo_," said Vanessa quickly. Damon's frown broke into a knowing smirk. A moment passed in silence.

"Sorry, needed to brush the cobwebs off my Italian," he said. She's said she couldn't believe h was alive. Vanessa winced, kicking herself. It was a reflex to speak in her first language, especially with someone who'd been around when she spoke it more often than English. "I'm surprised you didn't know. This town's crawling with vampires," he said, taking a step toward her. "When did you get back?"

"This afternoon. I just finished unpacking. There's a body…" She whirled around, eyeing the victim. A horrible dread swept over her. "Was this _you_?" Damon rolled his eyes a little, putting a hand on the back of his neck as he turned away from her slightly.

"Vanessa, a lot has changed," started Damon, sighing. Vanessa had actually interrupted his meal, and most of the blood was probably cold and spilled on the tar by now. "Just leave her there."

"Are you crazy? You can't just kill people!" she said, horrified. This couldn't be the same Damon. The Damon she knew would never slaughter someone and leave them in the road like this. "That's barbaric. At least bury her," she said quickly, her tone bordering on frantic. Damon winced, grabbing her arm and pulling her away from the road.

"Actually, now, you can. Just leave her. Someone will find her eventually."

"Excuse me? What do you mean you can _now_? Nothing changes that much. This is murder," she hissed, wrenching herself away from him. "You don't need to kill someone to feed," she finished stubbornly. She didn't expect this – Damon had been a completely different person when they grew up together. Was this truly the same person?

He stopped, running a hand through his hair.

"Just don't… tell anyone, got it?" She gaped at him, speechless. This had to be some kind of nightmare.

"You're kidding. This isn't real," she said, disgusted.

"I _told_ you; a lot has changed." He paused, wanting to get away from this topic. "Do you still live next door?" he asked, looking down the empty road. Vanessa thought it was a miracle that no one had driven by yet. Surely, someone would call 911. And now he was just going to move on, like it was nothing?

"Yes," she said coldly before turning away from him. In moments, she was back in the driver's seat. As she left Damon staring after her, hot tears sprang to her eyes. So Damon was alive. But he was also a murderer. The shock hit her over and over again as she tried to picture her childhood friend growing up into someone capable of something so ruthless. It just didn't fit. Part of her thought it would be easier to just continue believing he was dead.

Damon frowned as she drove away. He'd been running into ghosts for a while now, so it wasn't too surprising to find Vanessa alive now, but she'd changed. The old Vanessa would never have the guts to get in her car and just… drive away. It seemed uncharacteristic, but refreshingly forward of her. But she was so horrified by killing – what kind of vampire was that? How had she survived so long? Pondering this, he began the trek back home.

It was almost ten PM when he unlocked the door to the boarding house and crept inside. At first, it seemed like no one was home, but the clink of a crystal glass was a dead giveaway.

"Stefan?" he asked, wandering into the living room. He was wrong. It was Elena.

"Nope, just me," she said, smiling as she stood up to greet him. "I thought you were home so I came by and when you weren't here…" she raised his glass to him. Damon smirked, taking the glass from her to drink the rest of it.

"Stealing my liquor? You've gotten bad," he said, placing a quick kiss on her forehead. Being with Elena was bliss.

"Maybe. But you're worse. Where were you?" she asked casually, sitting back down. Alright, so being with Elena was bliss for the most part. Then there were times like this.

"Where do you think I was?" he asked, refilling the glass as well as pulling another from the cabinet. Elena rolled her eyes.

"Damon, we talked about this," she said, pursing her lips. "I mean, you don't even try to be careful. You can't just kill people." He turned toward her, smiling coldly.

"Funny; I ran into this girl who said the _same_ thing. You two would be friends," he said, knowing this would get to her.

"Oh, so you weren't alone, either. Great," she said, grabbing her glass off the table. She waited for him to tell her who it was. Instead, he only raised a brow at her and sipped his drink. She shot him an expectant look and when he still didn't elaborate, she slammed her glass down on the table and stood up.

"Alright, whatever. I'll just go, then," she announced, straightening her top. She'd worn a new one for him tonight, hoping they would get to spend some time together, but obviously that wasn't happening. Not when he wouldn't even try to give importance to her morals. Instantly, Damon regretted his actions. It always went like this – he did something wrong, Elena got mad, he hated himself for making her mad, and had to fight to make it up to her somehow.

"Elena, you don't have to—" But she was already gone, storming down the front step. Sighing, he collapsed onto the couch and pulled a blood bag from the cabinet to add a few drops to his drink. This was certainly an eventful night. His mind wandered to Vanessa as he tried not to fume over his girlfriend's overly-strict moral code. Once again, he heard the roar of her car's engine as she sped down the road, away from him. Hadn't Vanessa had a little crush on Stefan back in the day or something?

Eventually, his brother came home, greeting him with a quick nod. Things had been tense since Damon had gotten with Elena, but perhaps this new information would help repair the situation a little. At least, that's what Damon assumed when he spoke up.

"Hey, brother. You'll never guess who I ran into tonight," he said, listening as Stefan's steps up the stairs came to a halt.

"Was it Elena? Because she looked pissed on her way out just now," he said coldly, turning to face Damon.

"What the hell? Were you just in the yard?" asked Damon, annoyed at his brother's nosiness. Either way, that wasn't important right now. "I ran into Vanessa Leoni." Stefan raised a brow at him,

"The neighbor girl?" he asked, barely believing it. She'd become a vampire too?

"Yep, that one." Damon took another sip from his glass. Stefan remembered what Elena had told him just now and something clicked in his mind.

"Oh, is that who you went hunting with? Elena told me you were with some girl," he said, a smug note creeping into his voice. Damon glared at him for a moment.

"No, she found me while I was out hunting by myself. She's alive, and she's moved back into the neighbor house," finished Damon, sinking further into the couch to put his feet up. "Maybe you can put some moves on her and stop griping on me for stealing your girlfriend." Stefan's eyes turned cold again and he continued up the stairs, leaving Damon alone in the living room.


	2. Two

**Part 2.**

It was nearly nine o'clock when Vanessa arrived at the cottage. It was an out-of-the-way structure, nestled in trees and glowing slightly in the walkway lights embedded in the ground. Gingerly, she knocked on the door, noticing that all the lights were off in the front of the house. After a few moments, it swung open before her.

Despite the updated wardrobe, Katherine Pierce had the same knowing glint in her eyes. Her hair fell with the same lively, chocolate brown curls. Though it had been over a century and a half, her old friend looked exactly the same to her. With characteristic suspicion, she peered around the clearing in front of the house before letting Vanessa in. Behind the closed door, she finally flashed a smirk that bordered on genuine.

"It is _so_ good to see you," she drawled. Vanessa returned the greeting and the two of them entered the dining room. Katherine had been drinking blood out of a wine glass and she squeezed the contents of another bag into a separate glass for her friend and they sat down.

"So what brings you back to Mystic Falls?" asked Katherine, leaning toward her old friend. Vanessa shrugged and took a sip from her glass.

"I was travelling for a long time. It just felt like time to come… home," she said, looking at the table. Katherine nodded. "What about you? Where have you been?" There was a pause as she took another sip from her glass.

"Well, I haven't been in Mystic Falls, to be honest. I ran into a... problem." Vanessa was about to question her when Katherine continued. "I was a little surprised, Vanessa. You're one of the undead." She comically widened her eyes. "How'd that happen?" Vanessa sighed.

"It's a long story, Katherine," she said, hoping she wouldn't ask for details. Thankfully, she didn't.

"You know who else is here, right? Remember the Salvatore brothers?" Her characteristic playful glint shone in her eyes.

"Yeah, I ran into Damon on the way here. He's changed," said Vanessa, a note of sadness creeping into her voice. She glanced at the floor, not wanting to give away her concern. Katherine laughed.

"Yes, he has," she said, taking another sip. "He's dating this girl, Elena. You won't believe this – she's my doppelganger. And she's completely stolen my life." Katherine's eyes hardened when she brought up Elena.

Vanessa couldn't hide the disappointment on her face. He was dating someone? She tried to remind herself that he wasn't the same person, but it was difficult to shake her memories. Aside from that, it was obvious Katherine was bitter. Who was this Elena person? Katherine immediately picked up on her friend's disappointment. "You know, it's not worth it to get involved with them. Their lives revolve around her," added Katherine quickly.

Vanessa swallowed her sadness and met her friend's eyes.

"Yeah, probably better to leave it alone," she said, trying to convince herself she meant what she was saying.

Damon had eventually drifted into a drunken sleep on the couch. In the morning, Stefan trotted down the stairs to begin the day, but noticed his brother drooling onto his pillow. Frowning, he gave him a shove.

"Damon. Get up. It's like eleven o'clock." Damon rolled over and woke with a start, squinting at Stefan.

"I fell asleep," he mumbled, fluffing his hair out of his face with one hand. His breath reeked of alcohol.

"Yeah, I noticed." Stefan poured himself some cranberry juice in the kitchen and spiked it with several drops of blood from the fridge. When he came back into the living room, Damon was just sitting on the couch, staring at the floor.

"Elena and I got in a fight last night," he said, slowly remembering the evening's events. She'd stormed away and hadn't come back yet. That was why he hadn't gone upstairs – he'd been waiting for her. Where was she? "Did she tell _you_ where she was going?" Stefan stared at his brother somberly. Why was it that he, a nearly flawless boyfriend (save for the brief Ripper phase), somehow managed to lose the girl, yet she gravitated toward his alcoholic, psychotic brother?

"She went to Caroline's," he said evenly, sipping on his juice. "Did it have to do with Vanessa?" There was no harm in finding out what, exactly, Damon had done wrong, right? The slightly hung-over vampire ran a hand through his hair.

"Not really. I just said I ran into her. She's mad because I hunted. God, someone needs to tell that girl that vampires _hunt_." Stefan rolled his eyes.

"You killed someone. You really think Elena's gonna be okay with that? Hell, do you think anyone's going to be okay with that? Look at you," he said, gesturing toward Damon. "You passed out drunk on the couch after committing murder again and you defend it to your girlfriend and to me." He paused, sighing. Damon was never going to change. "Did Vanessa catch you? What did she have to say about it?" Damon glared at his brother.

"She was pissed, too. I don't get you people. It's the food chain," he said, staring at the floor again. This time, Stefan glared.

"That's one hell of an introduction, you know that? She probably doesn't remember you like this. She probably thinks both of us went off the rails." He put his glass down on the end table a little too hard and made for the door. "I'm gonna go let her know that one of us hasn't lost his head yet," he said over his shoulder. Through the closed door, he could hear Damon's taunt.

"Ripper."

Stefan swallowed his anger, as usual, and walked down the winding road. There was a slight distance between the Boarding House and the neighboring houses – each property in this area was fairly large. That must have been why no one noticed the moving trucks. When he knocked on the door, Vanessa answered almost instantly. Had she been expecting someone?

"Stefan!" Vanessa's face morphed into surprise. "I wasn't expecting you." She winced, realizing how that had come out. "I mean, it's good to see you," she added quickly. She smiled a little, stepping back to let him in. Katherine's warning floated back into her mind but she pushed it away – until Stefan proved himself to be insane too, there was no reason to push him away. He returned her smile and stepped in.

"You too, Vanessa. Damon mentioned that you'd moved back in and I thought I'd come say hi." They walked into the newly decorated living room and each sat on one of the couches.

"I'm glad you did," she said warmly. "Did you want anything to drink?" She was surprised at herself for waiting so long to ask. Where were her manners? Stefan shook his head.

"Nah, I'm alright. I was going to ask you if you needed any help moving or anything." He looked around the room. "But it looks like you're pretty settled."

"Oh, yeah, I took care of most of it yesterday. I didn't know you two were… still around," she said awkwardly, not sure how to say she didn't know they'd been turned into blood-thirsty, immortal beings.

"We didn't know you were 'still around' either," he said, smiling to break up the awkwardness. There was something different about Vanessa. She seemed more relaxed.

"I guess we had to meet up with each other eventually," she said, leaning back into the couch. "I guess Damon told you we ran into each other last night?" Maybe Stefan could tell her what had changed Damon so much. He nodded somberly.

"Yeah, he did. Then he got drunk," he said, still annoyed at his brother. "Listen, Vanessa, Damon's changed a lot. A lot happened. I mean, we've all been through a lot, but he's really not the same person anymore." Vanessa smiled sadly and sighed.

"I guess so." She paused. "What about you? Are you the same person?" His face twisted into a rueful look and he glanced at the floor.

"I've been through my ups and downs. I'm sure you have too," he said, not wanting to go into detail.

Meanwhile, at the house, Elena was returning. Damon sat up on the couch as she walked into the living room.

"You're back," he said, a little surprised. It was pretty early in the day.

"Yeah. And you still haven't showered." She rolled her eyes as she dropped her purse onto the couch and started up the stairs. Damon was immediately on his feet – he couldn't let her leave now. He had to fix what had happened.

"Look, Elena, the girl from last night was just the old neighbor girl. She used to live next door and she moved back." Elena stopped, taking in a deep sigh. "Stefan's over there right now to say hi to her or something."

"Girl next door, huh?" She turned around, seeing him there, looking haggard and hopeful in front of the couch. "You know, you really suck with social conduct." Suddenly, an idea struck her. She would scope out this mysterious 'girl-next-door' and do the Salvatores a favor. "I'm gonna go join Stefan and invite her over, okay?" In moments, she was back at the front door. "Take a _shower_, Damon." She rolled her eyes with a small smile and left the boarding house.


End file.
